Communication Centers and Oral Communication Programs in Higher Education

Esther Lee Yook is Speaking Center Director and faculty of communication at the University of Mary Washington. Wendy Atkins-Sayreis assistant professor of communication studies and Speaking Center Director at the University of Southern Mississippi.

• Part 1. Benefits to Higher EducationChapter 1. Communication Centers and Retention in Higher Education: Is There a Link? Chapter 2. Speaking Our Minds: Communication Centers and Critical ThinkingChapter 3. Communication Centers and Liberal Arts Education: Problems and Possibilities Associated with Cross-Disciplinary Engagements Chapter 4. The Communication Center: A Critical Site of Intervention for Student EmpowermentChapter 5. The Role Becomes Them: Examining Communication Center Alumni Experiences Part 2. Challenges to Today's CentersChapter 6. Ethics and the Communication Center: Chameleon or Tortoise? Chapter 7. The Blind Leading the Blind? An Ethnographic Heuristic for Communication CentersChapter 8. Learning to Tell What You Know: A Communication Intervention for Biology StudentsChapter 9. Using Theory and Research to Increase Student Use of Communication Center ServicesChapter 10. Focusing on Faculty: The Importance of Faculty Support to Communication Center SuccessPart 3. Alternative Models for Communication CentersChapter 11. Communication Center Ethos: Remediating Space, Encouraging CollaborationChapter 12. The Combined Centers Approach: How Speaking and Writing Centers Can Work TogetherChapter 13. Course Management Systems: Creating Alternative Avenues for Student Access of Communication CentersChapter 14. Virtual Communication Centers: A Resource for Building Oral CompetencyChapter 15. The Implementation of Computer-Mediated Communication in Communication CentersPart 4. New Directions in Consultant TrainingChapter 16. Technology Tutoring: Communication Centers Take the LeadChapter 17. Using Empathetic Listening to Build Client Relationships at the CenterChapter 18. Best Practices in Communication Center Training and Training Assessment

[The book] is a strong collection of essays. . . .This edited book aims to address those involved [in higher education] including tutors, directors, faculty, administrators, scholars, and others involved in higher education. . . .Overall the editors were successful in compiling a book of articles grounded in research and current theories to articulate the value, growth, and development of communication centers. . . .[the book] was truly well developed for all us in higher education in multiple disciplines. . . .It is critical that this book be used as a resources and guide not simply for conversation but for action in solving more of the oral communication competency issues that we are increasingly confronted with from various angles.